The historic scene that everyone was waiting for when 22-year veteran and four-time NBA champion LeBron James took the court with his son Bronny in the second quarter during the same regular season game, came on Tuesday when the Los Angeles Lakers opened their season with a 110-103 victory over Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
With that dream scenario that both of them will never forget, the expectation is that the younger James will soon be sent down to the G League so that he can work on honing his craft and developing his confidence away from the bright lights and microscope that is the Lakers, one of the most popular franchises in all of sports.
The plan is for him to be heading there in the very near future.
“Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James is expected to travel on the team’s upcoming road trip from October 28-November 6 and then begin shuttling between the active roster and the franchise’s South Bay G League affiliate, sources told ESPN on Friday,” wrote Shams Charania and Dave McMenamin.
The Lakers have a new priority on player development, and they seem to have a logical system in place to squeeze out all of the juice sharpen the abilities of young players. Shortly after hiring new coach JJ Redick out of the broadcast booth, they brought on board a player development staff, and part of the mission is to have their G League squad be in lock step with the big-league Lakers.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe G League draft is Saturday, and team training camps run through November 7.
As Bronny James and his representative and close family friend, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, discussed development throughout his predraft process with NBA teams and scouts, sources told ESPN that the concept of the G League was welcomed. Those sources said Paul insisted on a standard contract, not a two-way deal, predraft while making clear he and Bronny, selected by the Lakers in the second round with the No. 55 pick, were fully aware and open to the development process.
When LeBron shared his thoughts about plans for Bronny’s rookie season at media day in September, he spoke about how connected the Lakers are with their G League affiliate.
“Just [looking forward to] seeing him continue to grow as a basketball player no matter if it’s here with us or if it’s down with the G League team and him continuing to get better and better and better,” LeBron said. “His job is to put the work in and get better and better, just like the rest of us. And we want to hold him accountable, and he’s going to hold us accountable. And if we all do that, we all get better, because we’re all one team. We’re a reflection of South Bay; South Bay is a reflection of us.”
The younger James was the No. 55 pick in June’s draft out of USC. He struggled in his lone year at the college level, his offseason training regimen was seriously disrupted by his cardiac arrest episode in the summer of 2023.
South Bay also has a new coach this season, with Los Angeles hiring Zach Guthrie last month to replace Dane Johnson.
